[Mick]

So a week ago was my personal low thinking about recent Stanford quarterbacks.

Former Stanford recruit Bear Bachmeier led BYU to win 69-0 in their opener, and analysts heaped praise on Cal’s true freshman Sagapolutele, who looked relaxed and in command as he threw gorgeous, perfectly placed dimes in his collegiate debut. Even Hawaii fans were calling Alejado the next Tu’a.

And yet, Stanford seems like they cannot get a quarterback who can throw the ball to a receiver and not into the ground or to a wide-open defensive back.

But this is not a recent thing. It’s not just a Reich thing, it’s not just a Taylor thing and it plagued Shaw (I still argue, Hogan was not a consistently accurate passer). 

Stanford used to be called “Quarterback U” and even Stenstrom played some in the NFL.

But it feels like since Luck (!!), Stanford has been unable to recruit and develop a qb who consistently can look relaxed and throw accurate balls. There were moments (Kevin Hogan beating Notre Dame at home), but it seems like for a long time across multiple coaches, using different systems, Stanford QBs look jittery. I find it particularly instructive (and depressing!), to contrast the mechanics, ease, and placement of Cal’s Sagapolutele, playing as a true freshman in his collegiate debut, to recent Stanford quarterbacks.

So my question is, why? And can it be fixed?

I asked this question years ago before, and, not surprisingly, people blamed David Shaw and Tavita Pritchard. They said those two can’t recruit, can’t evaluate, can’t develop, turtled up and psychologically scarred our quarterbacks, and ran systems too complex for the human mind and were unable to scheme anything. 

Well, Shaw is now the passing game coordinator for the Detroit Lions, Pritchard is now the quarterbacks coach for the Washington Commanders, and Stanford quarterbacks are still throwing the ball into the dirt or worse.

I ask this because I wonder if there is something across all these coaching staffs that has changed that can be undone.

Maybe we still use the STRIVR system, and maybe there’s just something off about it where qbs are losing their physical rhythm and flow. Maybe our qbs shouldn’t have their playbooks on an ipad and should go back and use paper copies. Maybe there is some other newfangled technology, workout routine or other practice that we’ve been using across the last three coaches that just isn’t a good fit for a young, developing college QB. (We try a lot of new technologies at Stanford).

It just seems like there’s been this lack of relaxation, an inconsistency, and and a breakdown in rhythm that has plagued us across different coaches and different schemes, and I wonder if there’s something we can change or go back to.

We used to be Quarterback U. Stanford has earth’s finest student athletes, amazingly talented, dedicated and hard working players, a gorgeous campus where it’s beautiful to toss the ball around. We should be able to be Quarterback U again, and although of course we can recruit better, I know we can develop better, and get more out of the talent we have.

So a little pushback on this. We've had a couple of decent QBs since who could run an offense and comfortably complete passes to open receivers (and not counting Kevin Hogan):
 - KJ Costello (certainly in 2018 when he threw for 3500+ yards and 29 TDs)
- Davis Mills (who is still in the NFL backing up CJ Stroud in Houston)
- Tanner McKee (also in the NFL backing up Jalen Hurts in Philly and crushed the preseason this year for whatever that's worth)

And frankly, I would take Kevin Hogan over Steve Stenstrom any day of the week. Sure, Stenstrom was the more accurate passer but Hogan was a better college QB.

A question too for the board in general but what school has had an immaculate run of QBs for 10 - 15 consecutive years this century (where a team's fanbase is happy / satisfied / ok with their QB for even 3 or 4 cycles)? I just had this discussion with my wife who is a Georgia alum. Her question is why doesn't Georgia always have a good QB (this was after watching Gunner Stockton barely be able to complete passes 5 yards past the line of scrimmage again Austin Peay where Georgia clearly has a talent advantage at every position).

I know you asked for this century, and I can't answer that. But I like this 16-year stretch (by NFL draft year or camp):

'71  Plunkett (Rose Bowl champ, 2x Super Bowl champ, Hiesman, 15 years NFL)
'72  Bunce (Best Player on Pacific Coast, Rose Bowl win, passed on NFL, played in CFL, went to med school)
'74  Boryla (four years NFL, set Stanford passing TD record vs. Washington, a game my dad missed because he had to take me to get stitched up...as he reminds me every so often)
'77  Cordova (the exception that proves the rule)
'78  Benjamin (NCAA passing champion, Sammy Baugh winner, AA, six years in NFL)
'79  Dils (Sammy Baugh winner, 10 years in NFL)
'80  Schonert (11 years in NFL, including practice squads)
'82  John Elway (#2 Hiesman, 2x Super Bowl CHamp, 16 years  in NFL)
'87  John Paye (I played against him in HS, so I'm including him. Holds single game passing completion record. And if his arm wasn't ruined at Stanford, who knows?)

[Mick]

So a week ago was my personal low thinking about recent Stanford quarterbacks.

Former Stanford recruit Bear Bachmeier led BYU to win 69-0 in their opener, and analysts heaped praise on Cal’s true freshman Sagapolutele, who looked relaxed and in command as he threw gorgeous, perfectly placed dimes in his collegiate debut. Even Hawaii fans were calling Alejado the next Tu’a.

And yet, Stanford seems like they cannot get a quarterback who can throw the ball to a receiver and not into the ground or to a wide-open defensive back.

But this is not a recent thing. It’s not just a Reich thing, it’s not just a Taylor thing and it plagued Shaw (I still argue, Hogan was not a consistently accurate passer). 

Stanford used to be called “Quarterback U” and even Stenstrom played some in the NFL.

But it feels like since Luck (!!), Stanford has been unable to recruit and develop a qb who consistently can look relaxed and throw accurate balls. There were moments (Kevin Hogan beating Notre Dame at home), but it seems like for a long time across multiple coaches, using different systems, Stanford QBs look jittery. I find it particularly instructive (and depressing!), to contrast the mechanics, ease, and placement of Cal’s Sagapolutele, playing as a true freshman in his collegiate debut, to recent Stanford quarterbacks.

So my question is, why? And can it be fixed?

I asked this question years ago before, and, not surprisingly, people blamed David Shaw and Tavita Pritchard. They said those two can’t recruit, can’t evaluate, can’t develop, turtled up and psychologically scarred our quarterbacks, and ran systems too complex for the human mind and were unable to scheme anything. 

Well, Shaw is now the passing game coordinator for the Detroit Lions, Pritchard is now the quarterbacks coach for the Washington Commanders, and Stanford quarterbacks are still throwing the ball into the dirt or worse.

I ask this because I wonder if there is something across all these coaching staffs that has changed that can be undone.

Maybe we still use the STRIVR system, and maybe there’s just something off about it where qbs are losing their physical rhythm and flow. Maybe our qbs shouldn’t have their playbooks on an ipad and should go back and use paper copies. Maybe there is some other newfangled technology, workout routine or other practice that we’ve been using across the last three coaches that just isn’t a good fit for a young, developing college QB. (We try a lot of new technologies at Stanford).

It just seems like there’s been this lack of relaxation, an inconsistency, and and a breakdown in rhythm that has plagued us across different coaches and different schemes, and I wonder if there’s something we can change or go back to.

We used to be Quarterback U. Stanford has earth’s finest student athletes, amazingly talented, dedicated and hard working players, a gorgeous campus where it’s beautiful to toss the ball around. We should be able to be Quarterback U again, and although of course we can recruit better, I know we can develop better, and get more out of the talent we have.

So a little pushback on this. We've had a couple of decent QBs since who could run an offense and comfortably complete passes to open receivers (and not counting Kevin Hogan):
 - KJ Costello (certainly in 2018 when he threw for 3500+ yards and 29 TDs)
- Davis Mills (who is still in the NFL backing up CJ Stroud in Houston)
- Tanner McKee (also in the NFL backing up Jalen Hurts in Philly and crushed the preseason this year for whatever that's worth)

And frankly, I would take Kevin Hogan over Steve Stenstrom any day of the week. Sure, Stenstrom was the more accurate passer but Hogan was a better college QB.

A question too for the board in general but what school has had an immaculate run of QBs for 10 - 15 consecutive years this century (where a team's fanbase is happy / satisfied / ok with their QB for even 3 or 4 cycles)? I just had this discussion with my wife who is a Georgia alum. Her question is why doesn't Georgia always have a good QB (this was after watching Gunner Stockton barely be able to complete passes 5 yards past the line of scrimmage again Austin Peay where Georgia clearly has a talent advantage at every position).

I know you asked for this century, and I can't answer that. But I like this 16-year stretch (by NFL draft year or camp):

'71  Plunkett (Rose Bowl champ, 2x Super Bowl champ, Hiesman, 15 years NFL)
'72  Bunce (Best Player on Pacific Coast, Rose Bowl win, passed on NFL, played in CFL, went to med school)
'74  Boryla (four years NFL, set Stanford passing TD record vs. Washington, a game my dad missed because he had to take me to get stitched up...as he reminds me every so often)
'77  Cordova (the exception that proves the rule)
'78  Benjamin (NCAA passing champion, Sammy Baugh winner, AA, six years in NFL)
'79  Dils (Sammy Baugh winner, 10 years in NFL)
'80  Schonert (11 years in NFL, including practice squads)
'82  John Elway (#2 Hiesman, 2x Super Bowl CHamp, 16 years  in NFL)
'87  John Paye (I played against him in HS, so I'm including him. Holds single game passing completion record. And if his arm wasn't ruined at Stanford, who knows?)